The National Fair of the Sheep Breeders in Bulgaria will be held near Arbanasi for third consecutive year. It is expected to be much bigger and with much more participants compared to the previous ones. The event which is unique in its kind for Bulgaria is attracting more and more attention with each year and that’s why this time it is going to be 4 days long – from May, 3rd till May, 6th.

The sheep fair presents an intriguing mixture of tradition and modernism, history and present, heritage and perspectives in sheep breeding, which is a common means of living in European countries.

The presentation area near the Petropavlovski monastery is expanding almost twice and will reach the impressive 14 ha (140,000 sqm). 150 participants will present their products at more than 1/2 ha of stalls and pavilions and more than 1000 sheep, goats, horses, dogs and other species will be showed. Some of the latest state of the art agricultural machinery will also be exhibited at the fair. Delegations from 10 counties are coming for the show.

Cheverme

20 whole lambs will be slow-cooked over open fire (the so-called cheverme) by master chefs who will have 3-hour presentations each day.

A number of competitions will be held, among them shearing and manual milking contests. Dairy products making on the spot will be presented. For the first time visitors will be able to witness the so called Oil Wresting. It is so called because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil. Around 200 wrestlers or pehlivani of all ages are expected to take part. There will be shepherd dogs show and a museum exhibition called ‘Shepherd’s trade through ages’.

There will also be contests for the best picture under the ‘St. George’s day and Shepherds’ trade’ theme and best ritual bread and an auction for St. George icons, some of which very rare and unique. St George is very much honoured by the Eastern Orthodox Church, wherein he is referred to as a Great Martyr. His major feast day in Bulgaria is May, 6th. It is celebrated as the day of the shepherds and their flocks.

Two stages will be set up during the festive days. The second National Folklore Contest ‘Bleating lamb’ will be conducted there. More than 1600 singers and performers are expected to join in the singing, dancing and instrument playing competition. This year’s contest is held under the patronage of the Minister of culture Petar Stoyanovich.

The third edition of Sofia International Film Festival will be hosted by Veliko Tarnovo. The event will be realized due to the joint efforts of Art Fest Production Company/ Sofia International Film Festival and Veliko Tarnovo Municipality and with the support of the National Film Centre and The MEDIA Mundus Programme of the European Union.

Sofia International Film Festival in Veliko Tarnovo is part of the Operation Cinema project, which has been created and developed by the team of the Art Fest Production Company. A special hall in the building of Veliko Tarnovo Municipality is designated for showing the movies.

This year’s edition of Sofia International Film Festival in Veliko Tarnovo will be opened by the director of Sofia International Film Festival Stefan Kitanov at 6.30 pm on 25th April. The opening movie will be the latest masterpiece of the Italian director and writer Paolo Sorento. The film is called La grande bellezza. It won Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year for 2014 and also a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.

The festival will be held from 26th till 30th April. Tickets are 3 leva.

Let’s clean Veliko Tarnovo campaign will take place on the 26th April. Citizens and guests of Veliko Tarnovo and the region are invited to take active part in the initiative. It is a good time for us all to show our commitment, responsibility and solidarity with the world we live in.

The cleaning day will start at 8 am; the assembly point is Mother Bulgaria square. Everyone can take free gloves and rubbish bags from there; the areas to be cleaned will be also be specified.

The initiative is part of a bigger scale scheme, namely Clean Up the World. It is a community-based, environmental campaign that inspires and empowers communities around the globe to clean up, fix up and conserve their environment.

Hanging flower pots will be arranged along Veliko Tarnovo’s main streets and boulevards. Currently experts from the Municipality department of Ecology and environmental protection are selecting the plant species. The flower baskets will be suspended from the street lighting poles in the beginning of next month. They will be hanging roughly 2-2.5 m above the sidewalks. Around 100 flower pots will be put in place.

Also hedgerows will be planted by a number of residential buildings, situated close to the main roads. The live fencings are pleasing to the eye and will improve the aesthetic appearance of the town. Besides they provide relatively good soundproofing against traffic noise pollution. The idea was introduced in the Municipality by citizens of the Old capital.

Car boots sales are gaining popularity in Veliko Tarnovo region because of the many Britons who have chosen Bulgaria as their second home. They sell useful but unwanted domestic items that otherwise might have been thrown away. The idea is not to make profit but to offer one’s stuff at a bargain price to someone who needs it and who can make use of it. Besides selling their unneeded possessions Englishmen from the area are getting acquainted with fellow countrymen. Those gatherings are visited not only by people from the region but also from the neighbouring ones.

Last Sunday there was a boot fair held by the local English community and their Bulgarian friends in the village of Hotnitsa. Boot fairs at Hotnitsa are usually held the second Sunday of every month. They take place at the meadows near the centre of the village. The monthly make shift markets has turned into a real monthly feast for the village. Refreshments are also available during the market day – BBQ, burgers, tea, coffee and a seating area. People are coming to shop but also to enjoy and divert themselves. Such car boot sales are organized not only in Hotnitsa but also in other villages in the region. On May, 4th there will be a boot fair in Radanovo and the next one to take place in Hotnitsa will be on May, 11th.

Besides the boot fairs, Englishmen in the region are also promoting charity fundraising events. Last summer Hotnitsa hosted a tea party in a typical English style. Funds for the Neonatological ward in Veliko Tarnovo hospital were raised during this party. There was also a stall where homemade cards, soaps, souvenirs and of course homemade cakes, treats and fruit jams were sold. Every single lev collected went for the noble cause.

On April, 20th (Sunday) Arbanasi will welcome visitors with an Easter pirate party under the slogan ‘A little something for everyone’. Its organizers are again Britons from the region. Entrance is 15 leva, but the hosts of the event have prepared plenty of surprises – a crafts’ workshop, drawing studios, bow and arrow shooting, tea party, karaoke and BBQ. There will be lots of fun games and activities for children too. Kids will be searching for a pirate’s treasure, riding ponies and helping Captain Cook capture Peter Pan and of course there will be an Easter Bunny Treasure Hunt. The funds raised during the feast will go towards setting up a kindergarten for the children in the village of Biala Reka.

It is not a secret to anyone that during recent years Russian buyers’ interest in acquiring properties in Bulgaria has heightened. Even the Ukrainian crisis is not affecting this trend. There is one change though but it is a positive one – until the end of last year people in the age range between 55 and 65 years were the most active participants on the property market. In the general case they wanted to find a home in the sunny country to spend their days when they retire. But the tendency has turned. There are now enquires from young families and potential buyer between 25 and 35. These are predominantly owners of small scale businesses like shops, restaurants and small family run enterprises who are looking to develop the same kind of activity in Bulgaria. There is also one more change and it is that Russians are no longer looking only for cheap properties – they are now willing to spend between 25 000 and 45 000 euro.

The imposing iron throne from the extremely successful series “Game of Thrones” is arriving in Veliko Tarnovo. Its plot is inspired by ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, a series of fantasy novels written by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. The throne which is built of thousands blades will be situated in the square in front of Tsarevets Fortress. Fans of the TV show and the books will be presented will the opportunity to see the throne and take photos of it. The iconic chair is over 2 meters in height and weights over 100 kgs.

The throne will stay in Veliko Tarnovo for three days – from 6 pm on April, 11th till 1 pm on April, 13th. Everyone is welcome to come and see it; access is free.